True Beauty
by Foreign Nebula
Summary: Kaoru had loved Kenshin her entire life, and it killed her that she wouldn't be the one to break his curse. Especially since it was her curse too.  RuroKen Beauty and the Beast... With a twist.
1. Act 1

TRUE BEAUTY

Summary: Kaoru had loved Kenshin her entire life, and it killed her that she wouldn't be the one to break his curse. Especially since it was her curse too. Beauty and the Beast with a large twist.

Disclaimer: I don't own RuroKen, nor do I own Beauty and the Beast. This is just my interpretation of the fairy tale. Enjoy!

Author's Notes: This was meant to be a one-shot... but then The Bug decided to sink it's fangs into me and _not let go!_ Anyway, this was born. I should be finished before New Years, but it also depends on reviews as well.

_Act 1_

Kamiya Kaoru had known Himura Kenshin since they were both young. He was a full ten years older than her, but that didn't stop the strange friendship that was forged between the two of them from the moment they had met. During those times, it was slightly unorthodox (yet not unheard of) for a commoner to be friends with a Crown Prince, but that did little to stop them from tormenting the stable-master whenever Prince Kenshin was free from his studies.

As the pair grew older, they grew closer... and yet apart.

Kaoru worked in the kitchens, but was being trained to be a lady-in-waiting (how that had occurred, she still had yet to figure out) and was constantly busy with either work or study. Kenshin had his own problems to sort out as well. His father, the King, was slowly getting ready to step down from the throne and hand it to him. With finishing his studies and getting to know the Kingdom that only a King could know, it left little to no time to play together as when they were children.

It was a great shock that just two weeks after Kaoru had celebrated her eighteenth birthday, that the King suddenly died in his sleep, and arrangements were made in haste to make Kenshin the new King. The coronation was set to take place two weeks after the Kings death, and the invitations were sent out to all the nobility and important people in the kingdom and nearby to celebrate the welcoming of the new king.

But one such individual was forgotten.

On the eve of Kenshin's coronation, in front of a huge hall of dignitaries, friends and family, the Witch Yumi, appeared, and cast a curse on the new king. Turning him into a frightening Beast, Yumi declared that the only way to break the spell was for a girl to marry him of her own free will. His subjects would suffer the same fate as their King; each and every servant of the King was transformed into objects of their trade.

This turn of events would last for many years, told to children from parents who had heard it from a passing traveller who had supposedly heard it from a real witness. People of the surrounding kingdoms would speculate as to the goings-on of the Himura kingdom, but dared not venture into the frightening woods that surrounded the castle and its inhabitants.

Some said that since King Kenshin had been cursed, so too had the surrounding forest: anyone who entered never came back out because of the terrible beast that lives inside of it.

But this is not a frightening tale. This is a tale of love, _true_ love, that always conquers.

This is the story of the Beast and how he found his _True Beauty_.


	2. Act 2

**_Act 2_**

She _hated_ it when he walked so fast. Her body was not created to keep up with his (_ridiculously_) long strides. "Kenshin!" she squeaked, huffing and puffing against the wall. "Too fast!"

Her King whirled around, the anger that had been simmering in his eyes dimming somewhat seeing her in such a state. "Sorry." He mumbled, his deep baritone seeming to growl in the darkness of the corridor.

"It's okay, but try to remember, yeah? I know you're not in a good mood, but still." She sighed, frowning when she squinted into the carpet. "Stupid Yahiko is getting sloppy." She muttered, crossing her arms over her chest and thinking of her younger brother. She shook her head and jogged over to where Kenshin was waiting for her.

The man, no Beast, looked down at her, a smirk lightening his dark features. "Need some help?" he offered, holding out a furry paw for her to hold on to.

Kaoru glowered at him, her blue button eyes narrowing at him. "I may be a mannequin, Kenshin, but I am still a woman." She said haughtily, turning her nose up at him and rolling around him. She heard his deep chuckle from behind and couldn't stop the small smile from forming on her face. How long had it been since she had heard him laugh? Too long, it seemed; she had nearly forgotten what it sounded like.

"You never cease to amaze me Kaoru." He muttered, turning and catching up with her in two strides. "Normally a woman would jump at the chance to be on a King's arm." He replied, looking down at her.

She turned her head, a mysterious smile stretching the seems that were her lips. "And how long have you known me, Kenshin?" she asked, folding her arms behind her back and turning her head away.

Kenshin was silent for a moment, his gold eyes narrowing in thought. How long had it really been? One hundred, no, two hundred years since that evil witch put the curse on him? In all that time, not one woman had looked at him for what he really was, a man trapped in the body of a beast. He ran a paw through his unruly mane of red-gold fur. The task of breaking the curse looked to be taking their toll on him.

"It's been too long, Kaoru." He finally said, looking down the hallway, towards a door partially hidden behind a long blue curtain.

"What..." she opened her mouth to say, anger simmering through her body at his remark. _Too long_? What was that supposed to mean! She turned her head to look up at him, only to quickly shut her mouth at the haunted look in his eyes.

_Oh_, she thought, _that's why_.

A silence settled around the two of them, one that was slightly uncomfortable. Kaoru knew that he blamed himself for letting Yumi curse all of his faithful servants. She knew that every time he saw a servant who had been cursed to remain in the one position, such a Luc the great chandelier in the front hall, he was quick to anger and would go to the one room in the entire castle that he had forbidden her to go to (but knew that she would never follow his orders because she never listened to him anyway). Only she was able to calm him down, even if it resulted in loud and long shouting matches that would bring the entire castle knocking on the door to see what was going on.

He had once asked her a question that had made her do a double-take. "_Do you and the others blame me?_" he had asked quietly one winter's day, helping her look after the children that had wanted to play outside in the snow.

She remembered blinking at him, her wide blue eyes looking at him incredulously before she had started to laugh. "_What gave you that stupid idea?_" she had replied, placing a hand on his arm to help her stay upright as she laughed. "_My good God, are you really asking me this?_"

The gold that had flared in his eyes had stunned her. He was completely serious about his question. "_Kaoru, I don't have the patients for this._" He had growled, fisting his paws at his side.

She had straightened up, then, and hit him as hard as she could in his shoulder(but not so hard as to pop the stitching in her arm like _last_ time). When he had glowered down at her (_Good_, she thought,_ at least he's not ignoring me_.) she had glared right back up at him, one hand poking him in the chest. "_Don't you _dare_ blame yourself for this mess." _She had whispered furiously at him, poking him repeatedly until one of his paws wrapped around her tiny hand and held onto her. "_No one blames you, Kenshin. They know how hard you tried to reason with Yumi, and if anyone is to blame, it's Yumi._"

He would have replied, his gold eyes warming, but at that moment, a veritable army of children's toys attacked them with snow-balls. They had both forgotten their conversation, focusing instead on the snow-ball war that the children had started, but there had still been a subdued air around them, and the conversation was never brought up again.

Kaoru was brought back to the present when a loud squeak filled the hallway. She cringed, and if she would have blood, she was pretty sure that it would have run cold at the sound. _Not now_, she thought, watching as Kenshin stopped suddenly and slowly turned around. One hand was on the handle of the door and the other was reaching into the pocket of his trousers.

"Kaoru, what was that sound?" he asked, frowning as he looked down the long hallway.

"Nothing, I didn't hear anything." She lied, hitting herself mentally when she saw his eyes narrow down at her. _Damn it all!_

He let go of the handle and turned to her fully, watching her carefully. She was still several feet behind him, probably stopping when the sound had occurred. "You are a horrible liar, Kaoru." He said, taking a step towards her. He knew he was being menacing, but he also knew that _she_ knew that he would never hurt her.

Unconsciously, Kaoru took a step back, and once again the ugly squeak echoed around them and down the hallway. "Uh oh." She sighed, not bothering to hide her guilty look.

Folding his arms over his chest, Kenshin looked down at her, patiently waiting for her explanation. "I'm waiting, Kaoru. Care to explain."

She looked anywhere but at Kenshin, her eyes darting around the empty hallway to focusing on the dust on the windowsill. "Erm, I squeaked?" she answered, shrugging her shoulders. She had been trying to hide this new turn of events from him for several years now, hating to add to his increasing worry for the well being of his servants (and friends). She knew he would start to blame himself over this as well, something that she tried with all her power to keep from happening.

"Have you been oiling you wheels?" he asked, suddenly concerned.

She nodded her head, wincing at the tone in his voice. "Every morning." She replied in a small voice, still looking away from him. Her eyes widened when she realised what she had said and slapped her hands over her face. She looked at him, realising her mistake when he narrowed his eyes down at her.

"Did you just say, _every morning_?" his voice was deadly, his gold eyes hardening to chips of ice. His mood had changed so quickly, she had barely seen it. Without another word he whirled around, kicking the doors down and marching inside the Forbidden room, his angry snarls echoing behind him as he disappeared in to the darkness.

Sighing tiredly, Kaoru moved to following him, cursing a blue streak of her own when the squeak seemed to mock her. "Oh shut up." She mumbled to it, even if it was coming from her own wheels.

Inside the room was dark, but she knew the lay out like the back of her stitched hand. Once, this room had been marvellous, a true Kings bedchamber. Glorious tapestries that had been beautifully handcrafted by the finest seamstresses in all the Seven Kingdoms, which had hung from the walls to keep the room warm during winter, now lay in tatters and shreds all over the floor. Paintings and furniture were ruined beyond repair; glass and wood and canvas embedded deep in the thick layer of dust that muted the once-vibrant colours of the room. A path had been cut through the room, free of dust and debris, one that led to the centre of the room and then on to the balcony. Kaoru had seen this room in its glory days, but she thought it better suited his temperament now that it lay in chaos and disarray: it represented the anger that seemed to haunt him.

Off to the side of the large room, she could hear Kenshin snarl, something shattering in his hands as he tried to control the Beast within him. She knew better than to talk to him when he was like this, knew that it would only infuriate him all the more. Instead, she rolled to the centre of the room and to the rose that rested in a glorious crystal vase. With her heart in her throat, she blinked, watching as four petals remained.

They didn't have too much time left.

"_You are rusting_." He growled out behind her, startling her.

She turned to face him, sighing as she slowly nodded her head. She didn't say anything else, watching instead as a whole litany of emotions danced in his eyes. She turned back to the rose, picking up a petal that had fallen from the flower. She lay it in the palm of her hand, smelling the scent of rose and feeling the lingering bite of dark magic. The red-as-blood petal rested in her palm for no more than five seconds before it turned in to ash in her hands. _Is that how we will all go as well?_ She thought sadly, dusting her hands on her frock and went over to the balcony.

She could hear Kenshin follow behind her, could feel his anger building. "This is nothing to be upset about, Kenshin." She shrugged. "It's only natural that this would happen." There must have been a hint of sadness in her voice because the next moment she found herself pressed awkwardly to Kenshin's chest. His strong, furry arms wrapped themselves around her tightly, his cheek resting on the crown of her head.

"How long," he whispered, biting back on the anger that he wanted so desperately to release, "has this been going on."

Emotions that Kaoru had been struggling hard not to show for decades suddenly rushed to the surface. Fear, anger, sadness; those were just some of the feelings that she had desperately hidden and locked away inside of her being in order to protect her dearest friends.

And then there was love.

Whenever Kenshin had held her in the past, she had desperately tried to squash the feeling of contentment that had swamped her entire being. Now, she felt suffocated and trapped, the knowledge that Kenshin did not feel the same way for her breaking her heart. Oh, she knew how to break the curse, all the servants did, but she wasn't the fair-maiden type (_hell_, she wasn't even an aristocrat). She knew that would never break the spell.

If she would have the ability to cry, she would have done so right then in his arms. Instead, she succumbed to her guilty pleasure and wrapped her arms around his waist, rubbing her nose against his chest. "Four years." She whispered, feeling him suddenly stiffen.

Kenshin's mind was reeling. Had Kaoru really been able to hide her condition for that long? The thought made his knees week in shock and cold fury at the witch who had done this to come raging to the surface. Another thought hit him, just as he was able to regain the use of his mouth. "And the others?" he asked, gently pushing her away and holding her at arms length.

He knew instantly that the situation was in dire straits when Kaoru turned her head away, her button eyes dulling slightly. "Kaoru, how bad?" it must be bad, especially if Kaoru had started to oil her wheels (and no doubt, joints) every day.

"Almost half have started to tarnish," she whispered.

It felt like a hammer-blow to his gut. "_Tarnish_?" he said incredulously.

She nodded, unable to stop herself now. "Some are rusting like I am." She winced at this, almost like it had caused her physical pain, "And the children..." she looked up at him them, and he could have sworn he saw sorrow dancing across her face. "Some are starting to lose their seems at an alarming rate, others have found mould in their stuffing –" she broke off suddenly, taking a shaky breath. "Tae found termites." She whispered, looking distraught.

The anger exploded from him suddenly and he whirled away from her, his gold eyes flashing red as he leap through the room. All he saw was red, his ears ringing with the knowledge that not only were his servants, no, his _family_ were cursed because of him, they were slowly rotting away. He faintly heard Kaoru call out to him, to stop and to think, but he needed to get away before he did something he knew he would regret. He loped through the castle, more Beast then Man, until he reached the gardens and stables outside.

From the corner of his eyes, he saw Sano clank out of a side door with Megumi clinging to the feather plume on his helmet. The suit of armour and small fox tried to stop him, calling out his name, but he ignored them.

Just as he was about to leap over the aged walls, he turned his head, still seeing red. He saw Sano and Megumi try to catch him, still running down the steps, and then he saw Kaoru, way up high in his old tower bedroom. Even from where he stood down at the far corner of the castle gardens, he could see the hurt and worry on her face. He turned then, looking one final time up at Kaoru.

"I'm going hunting." He roared, and leaped over the wall.

**A/N:** I've always been fascinated by the concept of how exactly the servants for the Beast managed to stay as they were in some of the fairytales that I've read. Not once have I really seen or heard about the servants rotting away or getting tarnished due to age. I know that there is magic involved, but if it has a time limit, shouldn't it be logical that those affected by the curse would be on the same time-limit? This is just my interpretation of the fairytale, so I hope that you are enjoying it so far. I would most certainly like more reviews though. That would be nice.


	3. Act 3

**A/N: Sincerest apologies for how... Long this has taken, but fear not! This should wrap up in the next few chapters or so... Meaning definitely by the end of year this will be finished! Yay!**

**XxXxX**

**Act 3**

The woman who lay on the bed could only be described by one thing: beautiful. Long raven locks of hair spilled like ink over the pillows and sheets of the large bed. Sooty lashes fluttered against her cheeks as she slept. Skin as pale as the freshly fallen snow outside the window; Kaoru couldn't honestly be jealous.

She could understand Kenshin's fascination with the woman, honestly she could, but she still seemed too good to be true.

How a woman like Tomoe could be left to rot in the Forest... it also disgusted her.

Shaking her head, Kaoru moved about the room, straightening up some of the furniture and preparing Tomoe's clothes to wear when she woke up. She shuffled about, ignoring the now-constant squeak of her rusting wheels. No amount of oiling helped anymore, and so she had gotten used to the sound, learning to live with it, and the inevitable that would happen sooner that anyone had planned.

The annual winter storm had hit them very hard this year, the occupants of the castle forced to stay indoors or risk being knocked over by the fierce gale-like windows that threatened to blow them away. The fires in the hearths remained blazing during the day and the night, never going out since the storm had started a fortnight previous.

That had been when Kenshin returned with the unconscious woman in his arms. Tomoe... Kaoru shook her head, glancing to the woman sleeping peacefully in the opulent bed. Could she really be the one to break the curse? Could she be the one to give back joy and laughter to Kenshin?

The thought that Tomoe could be all that and more, left a jagged tear in Kaoru's heart. She had loved Kenshin since she was young, often denying her feelings as a trick of the mind. But as they had aged along with the curse, Kaoru had begun to realise that what she had been feeling was something much more than sisterly love. She strove to be the shoulder to lean on when he was feeling sad and depressed; she made sure that he was eating properly and that he had a clean bed to sleep in. She took care of him when he could not, and ,in turn, he had done the same for her. They complimented one another... but she had always been too afraid to let Kenshin know of her feelings lest it hinder the task that Kenshin needed to partake in to break the curse.

A low sigh escaped her throat as she moved about the room, fluttering to and fro. She was reaching down to pick up a discarded book when Tomoe shifted in her bed, a feminine sigh escaping her ruby lips. "Akira..."

Kaoru stopped, a frown coming to her face. Akira? Who was that? Thoughts churned in her mind but she ignored them, ruthlessly pushing them to the back of her mind, focusing on the task of cleaning up the... Well, she had already tidied up the room.

Breathing out a sigh of defeat, she moved towards the door, trying to be quiet as she did, but wincing every time her wheels squeaked. Placing a hand on the door, she opened it slightly and froze, her ears straining to pick up on the sudden whimper that had escaped from Tomoe's throat. She turned her head, watching in the dim light as Tomoe reached out to an invisible person.

"Don't leave me, Akira!" she whimpered, before her arm dropped to the top of the bed-sheets and she fell back into a deep sleep.

Shocked, Kaoru stayed frozen where she stood, her mind and heart racing a thousand miles a minute. A small voice in her head had sneered that she finally found out about this Akira person, but that begged the question: would Tomoe still be able to break the curse if she was in love with someone else?


	4. Act 4

**Act 4**

A bitterly cold week had passed since that night in Tomoe's room. Kaoru had not said anything to any one about what she had heard, no matter what her conscience was telling her to do, and it was slowly driving her insane.

She watched as Kenshin fussed over Tomoe, and Tomoe let herself be fussed over by Kenshin, but it was at times when Kaoru knew that no one was looking at her, that a painful shadow would cloud the other woman's eyes, and the skin around her lips would strain and bleed of colour.

All in all, it was a very delicate situation that they were all in.

So it was one night, similar to when Kaoru had been tending to a sleeping Tomoe, that she had had enough. After seeing Tomoe and Kenshin fed a hearty dinner (as it was really only the two of them that has any need for sustenance) Kaoru retreated to the kitchens, her heart heavy with the secret that she had heard from Tomoe's lips.

As she entered into the warmth of the kitchen, Kaoru found herself facing Tae and Megumi, both chattering animatedly over how well both Kenshin and Tomoe were acting.

"Any day now!" Tae chattered excitedly, clapping her hands together. In life before the curse, she had been employed as the leading chef of the Royal kitchens, a job that she was immensely proud of. After the curse, she was one of the unlucky ones, frozen in place for years and years as the large fireplace and hearth located at the back of the kitchen. Kaoru had once said that she would sooner die than be frozen in one place like she was, but Tae had simply laughed, pointing out that in life before the curse, she was almost never away from the stove and fire-place anyway so it wasn't that much of a change.

Curled up on one of the stone benches opposite the fire-place, was Megumi, a stuffed toy fox with black eyes glinting in the light from the fire in Tae's belly. The toy fox lifted her head as Kaoru moved into the room, tail flicking out in welcome. "I have to agree with Tae on this one, Kaoru. Kenshin is going to ask her any day now to marry him." She laughed in delight as she said this, but it seemed to be the final straw for Kaoru.

"She doesn't love him!" Kaoru hissed, her blue button eyes glinting rebelliously. "She's in love with someone else!"

The silence that descended on them was thick and heavy, the two original occupants of the room staring at Kaoru incredulously.

"What?" Megumi was the first to answer, sitting up from her position on the counter and staring at her long-time friend. "Where did you hear this?"

Kaoru shuffled over, cursing darkly when her wheels kept squeaking. "The other night." She sighed darkly, plopping herself down on one of the padded chairs near Tae's roaring fire. "I was tending to her like I'm supposed to, and she was talking in her sleep." She stopped there, her heart aching for Kenshin. "She was calling for another man, someone called Akira."

Tae threw a look to Megumi who frowned. "I could be just a dream, Kaoru. Did you ever think of that?" Tae said finally.

"Not with the way she was calling for him. She loved him, or better yet, still does."

Kaoru was met with silence, a stifling thing that clogged her throat, and if she were human again, she would have started to cry. She stared deep in to the fire, ignoring Megumi as the toy fox padded over and jumped into her lap, her tiny paws placing themselves gently on her hands.

"But things could be different now. She could still marry Kenshin, Kaoru, and we'll be back to our normal selves! Ayumi never said anything about being in love to get married." Megumi said gently, glancing to Tae out of the corner of her eyes and seeing her nodding her head gently.

Kaoru sighed and leaned back in her chair, the hand that Megumi wasn't leaning against coming up to rub at the space between her eyes. "I honestly don't think that Tomoe is the type of girl to marry someone if she didn't love them." She murmured, looking away from her two friends and sighing in defeat, knowing that anything could happen.

The only thing that mattered was her best friend finding the happiness that he so deserved. But a small part of herself couldn't help but wish the same thing for herself.


End file.
